Internet services slowed to a crawl in parts of the Middle East, India and Pakistan this weekend after cables in the Red Sea were severed.
Microsoft confirmed that the cable disruptions had degraded internet usage in several countries. Its Azure cloud services were among those affected.
It was not clear what caused the incident. Services appeared to be improving by Sunday morning, but disruption could run on for days or weeks, experts believe.
There have been fears that cables in the Red Sea could be attacked by Yemen’s Houthi rebels. They have denied attacking lines in the past. Cables can be cut by anchors dropped from ships. About 70 per cent of past incidents were accidental.
In the UAE, customers of telecoms companies Du and Etisalat said home broadband and mobile services were running significantly slower on Saturday night, with many websites and apps failing to load.
By Sunday, services had sped up, though internet monitor DownDetector.ae showed some user reports of problems for both companies.
On Monday, there were still complaints of slow service.
“Undersea fibre cuts can take time to repair, as such we will continuously monitor, rebalance, and optimise routing to reduce customer impact in the meantime,” Microsoft said early on Sunday.
Internet observatory NetBlocks, which tracks cyber security and digital infrastructure around the world, said there was slow service reported in countries across the region, including the UAE.
“A series of subsea cable outages in the Red Sea has degraded internet connectivity in multiple countries including #Pakistan and #India; the incident is attributed to failures affecting the SMW4 and IMEWE cable systems near Jeddah,” NetBlocks wrote on X.
“Similar internet disruptions have been observed on Etisalat and Du networks in the United Arab Emirates, resulting in slow speeds and intermittent access as engineers work to resolve the issue impacting multiple countries.”
Du's help desk services on social media fielded a raft of requests for help. It responded to a series of messages on social media from customers whose internet had ground to a halt.
Du later issued a statement on the problem. “You may experience some slowness in our data services due to an International submarine cable cut,” the company posted on X on Sunday.
“Our technical teams are working with international providers to resolve the issue. We will keep you updated with the latest developments.”
Etisalat said it was working to address the disruption in services in a message shared on X on Sunday.
“Dear valued customers, you may experience slowness in data services due to an interruption in the international submarine cables,” Etisalat said.
“Our technical teams are currently working to address the issue. We will keep you updated with the latest developments as they occur. We thank you for your understanding and co-operation.”
Pakistan Telecommunications Co noted that the cuts had taken place in a statement on Saturday. Saudi Arabia did not immediately acknowledge the disruption and has not commented.
The Red Sea is a critical telecoms route, connecting Europe to Africa and Asia through Egypt. Repairing subsea cables in the area can prove to be difficult, particularly since Yemen’s Houthis continue to attack vessels in the area.
In March last year, at least three subsea cables were cut, which affected internet traffic in Europe, the Middle East and parts of Asia. The US government found that the anchor from the Rubymar, the ship the Houthis had critically damaged, had dragged along the seabed and cut the cables in question.
Between November 2023 and December last year, the Houthis attacked more than 100 ships with missiles and drones over the Israel-Gaza war. There have been several further attacks this year. The Houthis have sunk four vessels and killed at least eight mariners.
Key communication services remain vulnerable
Dr Raed AlHazme, an IT expert who has served as chief information officer of the Ministry of National Guard Health Affairs in Saudi Arabia, said the widespread internet disruption highlighted the dangers of over-reliance on such communication networks.
“These incidents are not new; similar outages have happened in recent years due to cable faults or cuts.” Each time, they remind us how fragile global digital infrastructure can be when over-reliant on external routes," he said.
“There is a common belief that most of the world’s data travels through satellites, but the truth is different. Satellites carry less than 1 per cent of global internet traffic. Subsea cables, on the other hand, are responsible for more than 97 per cent to 99 per cent of worldwide data.
“Although traffic was quickly rerouted through alternative cables, the incident teaches us critical lessons. Relying solely on international infrastructure is a major risk, and digital sovereignty is not a luxury – it is a strategic necessity to ensure continuity and security of critical systems.”
Three tips from La Perle's performers
1 The kind of water athletes drink is important. Gwilym Hooson, a 28-year-old British performer who is currently recovering from knee surgery, found that out when the company was still in Studio City, training for 12 hours a day. “The physio team was like: ‘Why is everyone getting cramps?’ And then they realised we had to add salt and sugar to the water,” he says.
2 A little chocolate is a good thing. “It’s emergency energy,” says Craig Paul Smith, La Perle’s head coach and former Cirque du Soleil performer, gesturing to an almost-empty open box of mini chocolate bars on his desk backstage.
3 Take chances, says Young, who has worked all over the world, including most recently at Dragone’s show in China. “Every time we go out of our comfort zone, we learn a lot about ourselves,” she says.
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Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026
1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years
If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.
2. E-invoicing in the UAE
Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.
3. More tax audits
Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.
4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime
Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.
5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit
There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.
6. Further transfer pricing enforcement
Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes.
7. Limited time periods for audits
Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion.
8. Pillar 2 implementation
Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.
9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services
Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations.
10. Substance and CbC reporting focus
Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity.
Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer
What are the GCSE grade equivalents?
- Grade 9 = above an A*
- Grade 8 = between grades A* and A
- Grade 7 = grade A
- Grade 6 = just above a grade B
- Grade 5 = between grades B and C
- Grade 4 = grade C
- Grade 3 = between grades D and E
- Grade 2 = between grades E and F
- Grade 1 = between grades F and G
How has net migration to UK changed?
The figure was broadly flat immediately before the Covid-19 pandemic, standing at 216,000 in the year to June 2018 and 224,000 in the year to June 2019.
It then dropped to an estimated 111,000 in the year to June 2020 when restrictions introduced during the pandemic limited travel and movement.
The total rose to 254,000 in the year to June 2021, followed by steep jumps to 634,000 in the year to June 2022 and 906,000 in the year to June 2023.
The latest available figure of 728,000 for the 12 months to June 2024 suggests levels are starting to decrease.
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A homegrown card payment scheme launched by the National Payments Corporation of India and backed by the Reserve Bank of India, the country’s central bank
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In India, it can be used at ATMs, for online payments and variations of the card can be used to pay for bus, metro charges, road toll payments
The name blends two words rupee and payment
Some advantages of the network include lower processing fees and transaction costs
